Ramses - The Secrets Of Faith In Rebirth
The first 11 tracks of this release is the album "Faith In Rebirth", that was originally released in 1993 and the final 4 tracks are from "Secrets", an unreleased EP from 1997. Ramses were from Belgium and lyrically as one would imagine with the song titles and visuals, concentrated on Ancient Egypt. I think had this been a few years earlier, we may have heard more from them, but 1993 was a period of turmoil for traditional metal bands as I remember, with thrash dying off in the mainstream and the grunge factor taking over, it was hard for media outlets and bands to get their music across. Nowadays of course, barriers are gone and traditional metal once again has a healthy voice.
A lot of the material sounds very American, ‘Keep The Rock’ has a mild flirtation with early Queensrÿche, whilst other tracks fit into the big metal scene of the late 80’s. That said, fellow European influences can also be heard. I find this particularly notable on ‘Under The Shield’ which takes my mind to Pretty Maids. Due to the nature of the vocal delivery, you could be drifting off to AOR comparisons (especially as there’s a couple of ballads on the original "Faith In Rebirth" effort), underneath this though, there is a heavier element. Vocally this is really cool. Melodies work well and the accented English lyrics are at least unique with a certain tone that resonates whilst sung. The production of the original 11 track album was handled by Peter De Wint (Crossfire, Ostrogoth and Mystery), what I find with this album is it takes you back to a period earlier than when it was actually recorded. It is very catchy and like I said, melodic in places grabbing you with their infectious hooks.
For fans of such styles, this is a nice package re-issue and the liner notes are good with some rare photos included. Thus, rather than paying silly money for the original effort, grab this re-issue and you also get the bonus of the unreleased "Secrets" EP.
A lot of the material sounds very American, ‘Keep The Rock’ has a mild flirtation with early Queensrÿche, whilst other tracks fit into the big metal scene of the late 80’s. That said, fellow European influences can also be heard. I find this particularly notable on ‘Under The Shield’ which takes my mind to Pretty Maids. Due to the nature of the vocal delivery, you could be drifting off to AOR comparisons (especially as there’s a couple of ballads on the original "Faith In Rebirth" effort), underneath this though, there is a heavier element. Vocally this is really cool. Melodies work well and the accented English lyrics are at least unique with a certain tone that resonates whilst sung. The production of the original 11 track album was handled by Peter De Wint (Crossfire, Ostrogoth and Mystery), what I find with this album is it takes you back to a period earlier than when it was actually recorded. It is very catchy and like I said, melodic in places grabbing you with their infectious hooks.
For fans of such styles, this is a nice package re-issue and the liner notes are good with some rare photos included. Thus, rather than paying silly money for the original effort, grab this re-issue and you also get the bonus of the unreleased "Secrets" EP.
- Keep The Rock
- Ramses
- Hard Times
- Out Of The Blue
- Bloodstone
- Can There Be Real Love
- Diamonds
- Under The Shield
- No Woman To Trust
- Men Of Rome
- Love Between The Eye
- Babylon
- The Great Temple
- Ra, God Of The Sun
- Seth
